The fireplace structure and function is known. It is characterized in that it is provided with a base, essentially static, on whose upper side, covered with refractory material and made in pseudo-refractory material, the cooking plane is obtained. Above the cooking plane, the hood, of different shapes, collects, conveys and sends the combustion smoke into a suitable chimney provided for this purpose. The great number of fireplaces which are today on the market, makes the field very crowded, so that it is very difficult to summarize them according to a precise classification. Nevertheless, a first distinction may be done according to the different origins. Thus, for instance, the first are the handicraft ones, which being mostly manufactured by artists, are considered the so called pre-eminent fireplaces.
The second ones derive from the first ones, but have a typically industrial character, because their components are made up of prefabricated manufactured, modular products, installed on site by using concrete for integrating the group. Finally, a third category is known, considered a hybrid one, which uses some base prefabricated components, such as the fire plane and the back, and on which, once installed as unrefined, a finishing cover according to the needs is carried out using the handicraft skills.
A second possible distinction, concerns the final use of the fireplace. Thus, there are those for inside and for outdoor, where among these latter ones the barbecue typology may be comprised. This latter kind, having Anglo-Saxon origin, is different from the previous ones only because it does not utilize chimney vertically built along a building walls for discharging the burned smokes. This, because it is generally a structure, also movable, sometimes not integrated with the main structure. The reference technology, to which this invention is directed, mainly concerns the first type of applications, that is the traditional solutions of certain dimension, made on site, non-movable, and obtained by using mainly prefabricated components.
In this case, the presence of a base can be noticed, steadily fastened to the ground, sometimes provided with a recess for housing the wood, the so called wood-shed, above which there is a plane, in refractory material, which makes up the fire plane. A back and two sides which rise from the fire plane, and support the conic hood, with a short vertical section on the top which acts as a chimney for the collection and dispersion of smoke in the surrounding environment, complete the structure.
A common characteristic of the barbecue, is that the operational opening, defined by the three walls, is substantially prepared for two functions, respectively for burning wood up to obtain a certain amount of coals, and for cooking some food products laid on a front grill, also of the adjustable type. In the first of the two functions, the operator must provide for charging the barbecue with a fair amount of wood, then turn on the equipment and continue to feed the fire during the food cooking phase. This latter operation is carried out on the barbecue front part and may concern a more or less wide surface of the remaining part which is not occupied by the burning wood. The operator, then, proceeds to remove the formed coals for placing them suitably beneath the grill and removing the exhausted ash which has no more caloric power. With the purpose of producing a greater amount of coals, in the large size barbecues, some suitable metal structures are provided, which keep lifted, from the plane, the burning wood, so that only the coals can get into the underlying part, and that, as it was mentioned, will be, from time by time, removed and evenly laid beneath the grill.
Such procedure may cause problems. First, because it is necessary to feed the flame continuously, during the cooking process, the operator leaning forward for handling the food as well as for controlling the procedure, is continuously surrounded by the flame heat. This causes an excessive overheating of the concerned body part, which may cause, together with a working discomfort with persistent perspiration and probable percolation over the food, also some health problems. The drawback is magnified in hot environments, during which such equipment is most frequently used, where the sunbeams concentration together with the flame heat makes it unbearable.
But furthermore, the excessive heat produced by the burning wood prevents the operator from moving the food suitably, because the heat is often so high that it is impossible, or at least painful, to reach the products which are closest to the grill end and thus closest to the heat source. Also this aspect must be kept into account during the cooking. In fact, the food subjected to cooking is usually rotated, because, generally, the food placed at the grill end is subjected to temperatures different from those, rather lower, which concern the products placed on the front part.
Finally, problems concern also the flame feeding, when, in order to introduce new wood, the arms must be exposed to the heat.
A second negative aspect, but not to be disregarded, concerns the barbecue's unremovability. The most important of these, as far as the manufacturing characteristics are concerned, are generally firmly fastened to the ground, so that the installer, during the installation and in general, should always consider its correct position, avoiding having the cook frontally and directly hit by the sunbeams. This condition may increase the temperatures of the surrounding environment so as to make the cooking even more unbearable.
A purpose of the present invention is also that of obviating the above mentioned drawbacks.